Why Cowden?

Cowden is a Pittsburgh-based consulting and actuarial firm. We have a dedicated team of professionals with extensive experience in benefits, retirement programs, compensation, employee communications, benefits enrollment, actuarial, and technology services. Using a total compensation based approach, Cowden provides a full range of consulting services helping clients establish and maintain high quality compensation and benefits programs aligning organizations’ business strategies and objectives.

Experience

Regardless of the client, industry or size, Cowden Associates is dedicated to its clients. Our client retention rate is 97%. Approximately 80% of our new business has come from current clients. Over the last five years, clients who follow our recommended process and implement our suggested changes have achieved at least 95% of targeted improvements.

A communications company with over 1,000 employees implemented our design, funding, and administrative recommendations. Their target was to reduce costs by 15%, which has been achieved and sustained.

A manufacturing company with over 500 employees needed to significantly reduce pension and OPEB cash expenses. We identified various options to accomplish these goals without altering benefits and attained the targeted reduction.

A financial institution required refinements to incentive plans to reflect decreased operating margins. Implemented changes in targets, objectives, and payout streams were introduced to attain a level of required restructuring and were successfully communicated.

We create a clear vision for clients, assuring that their compensation, benefits, and retirement plans are competitive, cost-effective, and compliant.

To accomplish these goals, we build upon our expertise and experience, delivering a full spectrum of creative plan designs and innovative risk management solutions.

3 C’s of Cowden

Caring

Craft

Cause

Clients and employees believe we have their best interest.
– Empowering employees to serve clients in distinct ways by understanding their needs and company strategy.
– Supporting our employees in achievement of their career, family, and community goals.

Using ingenuity and innovation to solve clients’ needs: Creative with Reason.
– Our clients are better off after using us as we cured a problem.
– We facilitate tailored training and focus, to permit our employees to act in the manner that is most relevant for our clients while enhancing individual growth of employees.

We share our clients’ values and vision and represent them accordingly.
– Create compassionate atmosphere for our employees without sacrificing client focus and business goals.

OUR CLIENTS SAY:

“Provided clarity where before it was fuzzy”

“Placed us in a better position to achieve profitability”

“Explained the unexplainable”

“Enhanced our benefit plans to make them more efficient, while keeping them competitive and compliant”